tropical tank

[kx125]

hi,
im going to get a 75l -80l tank soon. I want a peacefull communinty tank I'm thinking of having about 8 neons, 4 guppys (males so I dont get babies), and a dwarf guormies or two dont know yet how many do you recommend I keep?

i'v read of salt being added to the tank to stop some dieses iv also read some fish cant have any salt in the water. Would it be ok to add some salt into the water with these fish, is it needed?

also I will probaby be buying a second hand tank what should I do to wash it out?and finally what substarate is the best to use (wanting to add a few plants)?

thanks

[cocoa_pleco]

how many gallons is 80l?

anyhow, salt isnt needed for anything but sick fish, and does more bad than good, and for plant substrate small gravel or sand is best.

For second hand tanks, use a 10-1 bleach to water solution and rinse well

[kx125]

80l is about 20g
do you recon my fish list is ok,
have I got enough neons together as their a schooling fish?
will guppys go ok with no females
and how many dwarf gourmis should I keep will just 2 be ok?

one last question, after I have set up the tank I am going to leave it for a week would it be ok to have a few real plants in it?im going to then slowly add fish, What fish out of my list do you recon I should add 1st?

I had fish a few years but forgot quite abit about them, sorry for my dumb questions

thanks, simon

[cocoa_pleco]

The fish list is fine. You ned 2 females per 1 male though. babies arent a problem since theyll get eaten.

2 gouramis is a limit since more= fighting

Add java fern first since its hardy

8 neons is a good school, theyll like it

add the guppies first since they hardy, then the neons, then the gouramis in few day intervals so you dont over shoot the bioload.

PS- watch the neons. They may eat the guppies tails.



My heavily planted 20g has a fluval 205, and...

1 dwarf gourami
3 albino corys
betta
5 white clouds
1 small unknown tetra
flying fox
banded loach
5 ghost shrimp
1 platy
2 baby angel fish

And for plants

java fern
java moss
moss ball
aquarium grass
cabomba
some other plant

[kx125]

thanks alot your really helpfull,

also..... im wanting to cylcle the tank with the guppys in it, would it be ok to leave the tank for a week then add the guppies then after a few weeks neons then gourmies. Should I do any water chnages during this time?

( I will be testing the water for ammonia and nitrate and nitrite, iv read alot of things on cycling iv read that the ammonia should go up 1st then the nitrate will go up and the ammonia will go down to 0, and finally the nitrite will go up and the nitrate will go down and stay like this) :help: lol

thanks

[Chrona]

thanks alot your really helpfull,

also..... im wanting to cylcle the tank with the guppys in it, would it be ok to leave the tank for a week then add the guppies then after a few weeks neons then gourmies. Should I do any water chnages during this time?

( I will be testing the water for ammonia and nitrate and nitrite, iv read alot of things on cycling iv read that the ammonia should go up 1st then the nitrate will go up and the ammonia will go down to 0, and finally the nitrite will go up and the nitrate will go down and stay like this) :help: lol

thanks

Ammonia goes up
Nitrite goes up, ammonia goes down
Nitrate goes up, nitrite goes down

Cycle finished, add fish.

[kx125]

thanks,
I dont have to do the fishless cycle do I, I can cycle the tank with a few guppys then slowly add the rest of the fish..?

[Lady Hobbs]

It takes about 12 days to cycle a fish the fishless way. It can take 3 weeks to do it with fish due to having to do constant water changes. Guppies are not good for a cycling fish.

Since you will be leaving for several days, why not dump a bunch of ammonia in the tank and just leave. By the time you return, your tank may have done it's cycle and you could start adding your fish.

[kx125]

went shopping before and I could only find cloudy ammonia, is this ok to use?
also what Nitrate,Nitrite ppm reading should a fully mature tank get?

thanks

[Chrona]

went shopping before and I could only find cloudy ammonia, is this ok to use?
also what Nitrate,Nitrite ppm reading should a fully mature tank get?

thanks

Cloudy ammonia? Not familiar with that product

Mature tank should have 0 nitrite/ammonia and something like 10-20 nitrates if you do regular water changes.

[cocoa_pleco]

cloudy ammonia? weird.

You need pure ammonia, nothing else added.

Shake the bottle and make sure no bubbles come to make sure its pure

[kx125]

do you mind if I ask where you got yours from?

[jeffs99dime]

as for adding salt, you don't need it

[cocoa_pleco]

you canadian?

Go to superstore and get their brand. Its what i use

[kx125]

na australian,
I was speaking to the local aquarium shop and they said that they will lend me some goldfish to cycle the tank, apparently they have big gills or something and can handle all the ammonia and nitirte

[cocoa_pleco]

thats a lie.

Goldfish are sensitive to ammonia and it burns their tissues just as easily as any other fish

[kx125]

your serious, I dont now who to listen too,
the other aquarium shop said for me to just get some hardy tropical fish and cycle the tank that way.
ild probaby prefere the goldfish way as after the tanks cycled I can get rid of the stressed fish:11:

I even asked then about adding ammonia to the tank, they just said you cand o it but its to unnatural.

but I think im gonna do it with ammonia, soory about all my dumb questions....,

what does active carbon do when its in the filter? should I put it into a cylcing tank,
also I was to have some plants in the tank, iv read that plants eat up nitrates or something and it will slow the cycle down in added into tank when cycling??
Finally, iv read that driftwood chnages the chemistry of the tank is this true what does it do,

thanks a heap...,

[Chrona]

your serious, I dont now who to listen too,
the other aquarium shop said for me to just get some hardy tropical fish and cycle the tank that way.
ild probaby prefere the goldfish way as after the tanks cycled I can get rid of the stressed fish:11:

I even asked then about adding ammonia to the tank, they just said you cand o it but its to unnatural.

but I think im gonna do it with ammonia, soory about all my dumb questions....,

what does active carbon do when its in the filter? should I put it into a cylcing tank,
also I was to have some plants in the tank, iv read that plants eat up nitrates or something and it will slow the cycle down in added into tank when cycling??
Finally, iv read that driftwood chnages the chemistry of the tank is this true what does it do,

thanks a heap...,

First bit of advice I can give is to not listen to your LFS. Half the time (or more) they don't know what they are talking about, or care only for profit. Do the research online for yourself. Fishless cycling is unnatural, but so is bringing fish from halfway around the world to put in a container of water. Fishless cycling is not only faster, but it's more reliable, and puts nothing at risk. Furthermore, when done right, you can put all the fish in at once, instead of spacing them out. It puts NO stress on fish, unlike fish cycling, which puts stress on fish each and every time you put more fish in.

[kx125]

thanks,
yeah sorta figured they dont really care how much fish die or break out in disease only more $$ for them I guess, anyway thanks for your help,
could you answer any more of my questions? as I have forgotten alot of thing to do with with fish

[Chrona]

thanks,
yeah sorta figured they dont really care how much fish die or break out in disease only more $$ for them I guess, anyway thanks for your help,
could you answer any more of my questions? as I have forgotten alot of thing to do with with fish

Sure, ask away. As I said though, it's always better to get multiple opinions. Everyone has been wrong at some point.

[kx125]

what does active carbon do when its in the filter? should I put it into a cylcing tank,
also I was to have some plants in the tank, iv read that plants eat up nitrates or something and it will slow the cycle down in added into tank when cycling??
Finally, iv read that driftwood chnages the chemistry of the tank is this true what does it do,

thanks

[Chrona]

what does active carbon do when its in the filter? should I put it into a cylcing tank,
also I was to have some plants in the tank, iv read that plants eat up nitrates or something and it will slow the cycle down in added into tank when cycling??
Finally, iv read that driftwood chnages the chemistry of the tank is this true what does it do,

thanks

Activated carbon removes impurities in the water. It is fine for when you are cycling, but afterwards, especially if you are going to use live plants, take it out, as it removes trace elements needed by the fish and plants.

Plants eat up ammonium and nitrates. Technically this does slow down the cycling progress, but you don't need as much bacteria if you have live plants, and live plants (assuming they are being kept in the same tank as fish at the LFS) have lots of the bacteria on their leaves.

Driftwood releases tannins and tannic acid into the water, which lowers pH and reduces hardness. Most of the time, this is considered beneficial. The tannins may looks a bit unsightly though, as it does give a yellow (but natural) tint to the water.